Passenger boarding bridge

The present invention relates to a passenger boarding bridge.

At an airport, a passenger boarding bridge that connects between a terminal building and an aircraft is often used for boarding onto and disembarking from the aircraft (see Patent Literature 1, for example).

Patent Literature 1 describes moving a passenger boarding bridge from a standby position to a predetermined target position, and undocking and moving the passenger boarding bridge from an aircraft to the standby position, by automatic control and/or manual control.

For example, the passenger boarding bridge includes: a rotunda connected to an entrance of a terminal building and supported in a horizontally rotatable manner; a tunnel unit whose proximal end is connected to the rotunda, the tunnel unit including a plurality of tunnels that are fitted together in a telescopic manner, such that the tunnel unit is extendable and retractable; a cab rotatably provided at the distal end of the tunnel unit and docked with an entrance (door) of the aircraft; and drive columns provided at the distal side of the tunnel unit, the drive columns serving as support legs. The drive columns include a lifting/lowering device and a travel device. The lifting/lowering device moves the tunnel unit upward/downward. The travel device is provided below the lifting/lowering device. The travel device includes a pair of travel wheels, each of which can be independently driven to rotate in regular and reverse directions. The travel device is configured to travel forward, travel backward, and change the travel direction, by the driving of the travel wheels.

Currently, it is often the case that docking the passenger boarding bridge configured as above with an aircraft and undocking the passenger boarding bridge from the aircraft are manually controlled by operations performed by an operator. Usually, in the case of docking the passenger boarding bridge with the aircraft, the operator performs operations to cause the travel device to travel forward, thereby docking the distal-end cab of the passenger boarding bridge with the door of the aircraft. Then, in the case of undocking the passenger boarding bridge from the aircraft, the operator performs operations to cause the travel device to travel backward, thereby undocking and returning the passenger boarding bridge to a predetermined standby position.

In the above cases where the docking and undocking are controlled by operations performed by the operator, the docked state of the passenger boarding bridge with the aircraft depends on the skill of the operator. Some operator may dock the cab with the aircraft by backward travel of the travel device. In such a case, in order to undock the passenger boarding bridge from the aircraft, the operator needs to cause the travel device to travel forward. However, there may be a case where the undocking operation is performed by an operator different from the operator for the previous docking operation. In such a case, at the time of undocking, if the operator is unaware of the current state (i.e., current docked state), there is a risk that the operator causes the travel device to travel backward as he or she would do so in normal undocking, and as a result, the undocking from the aircraft is hindered.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. An object of the present invention is to provide a passenger boarding bridge that makes it possible to eliminate a hindrance to undocking of the passenger boarding bridge from an aircraft.

In order to achieve the above object, a passenger boarding bridge according to one aspect of the present invention includes: a rotunda connected to a terminal building and supported in a horizontally rotatable manner; a tunnel unit whose proximal end is connected to the rotunda, the tunnel unit being extendable and retractable; a travel device that supports the tunnel unit and includes travel wheels configured to travel forward and backward, the travel device being configured such that a travel direction of forward travel of the travel wheels and a travel direction of backward travel of the travel wheels are changeable; a cab provided at a distal end of the tunnel unit, the cab being configured to be docked with an aircraft; and a determiner configured to, at a time before undocking the cab docked with the aircraft from the aircraft, perform determination whether or not the travel direction of the backward travel of the travel wheels at the time is a direction within a smooth undocking range.

According to the above configuration, before undocking the cab from the aircraft, the determiner determines whether or not the travel direction of the backward travel of the travel wheels is a direction within the smooth undocking range. Accordingly, by changing the method of undocking the cab from the aircraft in accordance with a result of the determination performed by the determiner, a hindrance to the undocking from the aircraft can be eliminated.

In a case where, in a plan view, an angle formed by an axis of the travel wheels, the angle being calculated clockwise with respect to a center line of the tunnel unit before undocking the cab from the aircraft, is an angle Wr, and in the plan view, an angle obtained by adding 90 degrees to an angle that is formed by a tangent line and that is calculated clockwise with respect to the center line of the tunnel unit before undocking the cab from the aircraft is an angle Wt, the tangent line extending horizontally and touching a cab-docked part of the aircraft, the determiner may be configured to perform the determination whether or not the travel direction of the backward travel of the travel wheels is a direction within the smooth undocking range based on whether or not the angle Wr is within an angle range that is set based on predetermined information within a range less than the angle Wt.

In a case where, in a plan view, an angle formed by an axis of the travel wheels, the angle being calculated clockwise with respect to a center line of the tunnel unit before undocking the cab from the aircraft, is an angle Wr, and in the plan view, an angle obtained by adding 90 degrees to an angle that is formed by a straight line and that is calculated clockwise with respect to the center line of the tunnel unit before undocking the cab from the aircraft is an angle Wt, the straight line extending along a distal end edge of the cab, the determiner may be configured to perform the determination whether or not the travel direction of the backward travel of the travel wheels is a direction within the smooth undocking range based on whether or not the angle Wr is within an angle range that is set based on predetermined information within a range less than the angle Wt.

In a case where, in a plan view, an angle formed by an axis of the travel wheels, the angle being calculated clockwise with respect to a center line of the tunnel unit before undocking the cab from the aircraft, is an angle Wr, and in the plan view, an angle obtained by adding 90 degrees to an angle that is formed by a fuselage guide line on an apron and that is calculated clockwise with respect to the center line of the tunnel unit before undocking the cab from the aircraft is an angle Wt, the determiner may be configured to perform the determination whether or not the travel direction of the backward travel of the travel wheels is a direction within the smooth undocking range based on whether or not the angle Wr is within an angle range that is set based on predetermined information within a range less than the angle Wt.

In a case where, in a plan view, an angle formed by an axis of the travel wheels, the angle being calculated clockwise with respect to a center line of the tunnel unit before undocking the cab from the aircraft, is an angle Wr, and in the plan view, an angle obtained by adding 90 degrees to an angle that is formed by an aircraft axis line of the aircraft and that is calculated clockwise with respect to the center line of the tunnel unit before undocking the cab from the aircraft is an angle Wt, the determiner may be configured to perform the determination whether or not the travel direction of the backward travel of the travel wheels is a direction within the smooth undocking range based on whether or not the angle Wr is within an angle range that is set based on predetermined information within a range less than the angle Wt.

The predetermined information may be information about an angle range that is excluded from the range less than the angle Wt and that is preset in accordance with an aircraft type of the aircraft.

The smooth undocking range may be an angle range that is, in a plan view, not less than 90 degrees as calculated clockwise with respect to a center line of the tunnel unit before undocking the cab from the aircraft, and is, in the plan view, set based on predetermined information within a range less than an angle that is obtained by adding 180 degrees to one of the following angles: an angle that is formed by a tangent line and that is calculated clockwise with respect to the center line of the tunnel unit before undocking the cab from the aircraft, the tangent line extending horizontally and touching a cab-docked part of the aircraft; an angle that is formed by a straight line and that is calculated clockwise with respect to the center line of the tunnel unit before undocking the cab from the aircraft, the straight line extending along a distal end edge of the cab; an angle that is formed by a fuselage guide line on an apron and that is calculated clockwise with respect to the center line of the tunnel unit before undocking the cab from the aircraft; and an angle that is formed by an aircraft axis line of the aircraft and that is calculated clockwise with respect to the center line of the tunnel unit before undocking the cab from the aircraft.

The determiner may be configured to perform the determination when an undocking command is inputted. The travel device may be configured to: in a case where a result of the determination performed by the determiner indicates that the travel direction of the backward travel of the travel wheels is a direction within the smooth undocking range, perform automatic travel in which the travel device travels backward by a predetermined distance without changing a facing direction of the travel wheels and then travels backward to a predetermined standby position; and in a case where the result of the determination performed by the determiner indicates that the travel direction of the backward travel of the travel wheels is not a direction within the smooth undocking range, not perform the automatic travel. The passenger boarding bridge may further include a warning unit configured to perform warning in the case where the result of the determination performed by the determiner indicates that the travel direction of the backward travel of the travel wheels is not a direction within the smooth undocking range.

According to the above configuration, in the case where the result of the determination performed by the determiner when the undocking command is inputted indicates that the travel direction of the backward travel of the travel wheels is a direction within the smooth undocking range, the travel device can be caused to perform automatic travel to the standby position. On the other hand, in the case where the result of the determination performed by the determiner indicates that the travel direction of the backward travel of the travel wheels is not a direction within the smooth undocking range, the travel device is not caused to perform the automatic travel, but instead the warning unit performs warning so that an operator will perform manual operation, while paying attention to safety, to undock the cab from the aircraft and cause the travel device to travel to the standby position.

The present invention is configured as described above, and has an advantage of being able to provide a passenger boarding bridge that makes it possible to eliminate a hindrance to undocking of the passenger boarding bridge from an aircraft.

The above object, other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be made clear by the following detailed description of preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding elements are denoted by the same reference signs, and repeating the same descriptions is avoided below. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below.

is a schematic plan view showing one example of a passenger boarding bridge according to an embodiment of the present invention.is a front view of the distal end part of a cab to be docked with an aircraft (the front view is taken from the aircraft side).shows one example of a control board, etc.

The passenger boarding bridgeincludes: a horizontally rotatable rotunda (proximal-end round room)connected to an entrance of a terminal buildingof an airport; a tunnel unit, whose proximal end is connected to the rotunda; and a cab (distal-end round room)provided at the distal end of the tunnel unit, such that the cabis rotatable in regular and reverse directions. It should be noted that, for example, auxiliary stairs (not shown) that an operator or the like on the ground uses to get in and out of the cabare set on the side of the tunnel unit.

The rotundais supported by a support pillar, such that the rotundais rotatable in regular and reverse directions about a rotational axis (vertical axis) CL. The tunnel unitforms a passenger walkway, and includes a plurality of tubular tunnelsand, which are fitted together in a telescopic manner (nested manner), such that the tunnel unitis extendable and retractable in the longitudinal direction. In the illustrated example, the tunnel unitis formed by the two tunnelsand. The tunnel unitis formed by two or more tunnels. The proximal end part of the tunnel unitis connected to the rotundain such a manner that the tunnel unitis swingable vertically.

The distal side of the tunnel unit(specifically, the tunnel, which is the frontmost tunnel) is provided with drive columns, which serve as support legs. The drive columnsare provided with a lifting/lowering device, which moves the caband the tunnel unitupward and downward (i.e., lifts and lowers the caband the tunnel unit). By moving the tunnel unitupward/downward by the lifting/lowering device, the caband the tunnel unitcan be swung vertically with respect to the rotunda.

The drive columnsare further provided with a travel deviceincluding a pair of travel wheels(a right travel wheelR and a left travel wheelL), which are drivable to rotate independently of each other in regular and reverse directions. The travel deviceis provided below the lifting/lowering device. The travel deviceis configured to travel forward by regular rotation of the two travel wheels, and to travel backward by reveres rotation of the two travel wheels. The travel deviceis also configured to be rotatable in regular and reverse directions about a rotational axis CL, such that the rudder angle is changeable within the range of −90° to +90° with respect to the extension/retraction direction (longitudinal direction) of the tunnel unit, and thus the travel direction of the travel deviceis changeable. For example, by causing the two travel wheelsto rotate in opposite directions to each other, the travel direction (the facing direction of the travel wheels) can be changed on the spot. By causing the travel device(the travel wheels) to travel on the apron, the tunnel unitcan be rotated about the rotundaand can be extended/retracted.

The cabis provided at the distal end of the tunnel unit. The cabis configured to be rotatable, by means of an unshown rotational mechanism, in regular and reverse directions about a rotational axis CL, which is perpendicular to the floor surface of the cab.

As shown in, a bumperis provided at the distal end of a floorof the cabto be docked with an aircraft. A plurality of (in this example, two) distance sensors(e.g., laser distance meters), each of which detects the distance between the caband the aircraft, are mounted to the bumper, such that the distance sensorsare arranged in the left-right direction of the bumper.

As shown in, a closureis provided at the distal end part of the cab. The closureincludes a bellows portion that is expandable and contractible in the front-back direction. At the time of docking the cabwith the aircraft, by expanding the bellows portion forward, the front end of the bellows portion can be brought into contact with the aircraft around the entrance thereof.

As shown in, the passenger boarding bridgefurther includes: a rotunda angle sensor, which detects a rotational angle of the rotunda; a cab angle sensor, which detects a rotational angle of the cabwith respect to the tunnel unit; a travel angle sensor, which detects a rotational angle of the travel devicewith respect to the tunnel unit(an angle indicating the travel direction of the travel device); a height sensor, which measures the amount of lifting/lowering of the tunnel unitby the lifting/lowering deviceand detects the height of the tunnel unit; and a distance sensor, which detects a distance from the center point of the rotunda(i.e., the position of the rotational axis CL) to the center point of the cab(i.e., the position of the rotational axis CL) (this distance is hereinafter referred to as “distance R”). These sensors are arranged at suitable positions, respectively. The distance sensoris configured as, for example, a distance meter that measures the length of the tunnel unit. The distance sensoris capable of calculating the distance R from its measurement value, and also capable of calculating a distance from the center point of the rotunda(the position of the rotational axis CL) to the center point of the pair of travel wheels(the position of the rotational axis CL).

A control boardas shown inis provided inside the cab. The control boardis provided with various operation switchesfor performing operations of, for example, lifting/lowering the tunnel unitand the cabby the lifting/lowering deviceand rotating the cab. The control boardis further provided with: an operating leverfor operating the travel device; and a display device. The operating leveris configured as a lever-shaped input device (a joystick) that has degrees of freedom multi-directionally.

A controllerand the control boardare connected to each other via electrical circuitry. The controlleris configured to: receive inputs of information (operation information) that is based on operations performed with the operation switchesand the operating lever; receive inputs of, for example, output signals from the sensorsto; control the operations of the passenger boarding bridge; and output, for example, information to be displayed on the display device.

It should be noted that the controllerincludes an arithmetic processing unit such as a CPU and a storage unit including a ROM, RAM, etc. A control program for operating the passenger boarding bridgeand information necessary for the operations of the passenger boarding bridgeare prestored in the storage unit. By executing the control program, the arithmetic processing unit functions as a controller that, for example, controls the operations of the components of the passenger boarding bridge(the operations of, for example, the travel device, the lifting/lowering device, and the rotational mechanism of the cab), and also functions as, for example, a determinerdescribed below. It should be noted that information to be stored while the passenger boarding bridgeis in operation is also stored in the storage unit. The controllermay be configured as a single control device performing centralized control, or may be configured as a plurality of control devices performing distributed control in cooperation with each other via the Internet and LAN. For example, the cabor the frontmost tunnelis provided with the controller.

Next, one example of operations of the passenger boarding bridgeis described. Operations of the passenger boarding bridgeare realized by control performed by the controller.

Before the aircraftarrives at the apron, the passenger boarding bridgestands by at a predetermined standby position indicated by two-dot chain line of.

A regular stop position for the aircraftis a predetermined position, at which the aircraft axis of the aircraftis on a fuselage guide line AL, and the regular stop position is set in the extending direction of the fuselage guide line AL. The aircraftis brought to a stop targeting the regular stop position. Although there are cases where an actual stop position of the aircraftdeviates from the regular stop position, when the aircraftstops, the aircraft axis of the aircraftis substantially on the fuselage guide line AL as illustrated in. It should be noted that the fuselage guide line AL is drawn on the apron.

For example, the operator operates the operating leverand various operation switcheson the control boardto move the passenger boarding bridgestanding by at the standby position indicated by two-dot chain line into, for example, a docking position indicated by solid line into dock the cabwith the aircraft. At the time, the operator sets, as the target position, for example, a position that is forward from a doorof the aircraftby an arbitrary distance (e.g., about 1 m). Then, the operator causes the travel deviceto travel forward such that the cabmoves from the standby position and reaches the target position, and operates the lifting/lowering deviceand the rotational mechanism of the cabsuch that, at the target position, the bumperof the distal end part of the cabfaces the doorof the aircraft. Thereafter, the operator causes the travel deviceto travel forward such that the cabmoves straight toward the door, thereby docking the cabwith the aircraft. After docking the cabwith the aircraft, the operator operates the control boardto expand the closure. The docking method thus described is merely one example of a general docking method. Depending on, for example, the operator performing the docking, the docking of the cabis not necessarily performed by the above-described method. For example, there may be a case where after causing the travel deviceto travel forward, the operator docks the cabwith the aircraftby backward travel of the travel device.

When the cabis in the state of being docked with the aircraft, the bumperof the distal end part of the cabmay be in contact with the aircraft, or a slight gap that would not hinder walking between the caband the aircraftmay be formed between the bumperand the aircraft.

It should be noted that part of, or the entirety of, operations of the passenger boarding bridgeuntil it is docked with the aircraftmay be automatically performed through the control performed by the controller.

Next, a description is given of a case where the passenger boarding bridgeis undocked from the aircraftand returned to the standby position.

The controlleruses XY orthogonal coordinates as shown into recognize the position (coordinates) of each part of the passenger boarding bridge. In this example, the center point of the rotunda(the position of the rotational axis CL) is set as an origin (0, 0), and based thereon, an X-axis and a Y-axis are set as shown in. However, the X- and Y-axes can be set arbitrarily.

In the present embodiment, at the time of undocking the passenger boarding bridgefrom the aircraft, before the undocking, the controllerperforms an undocking determination process (a function of the determiner) to determine whether or not the travel direction of backward travel of the travel device(the travel wheels) is a direction within a smooth undocking range. Hereinafter, the undocking determination process performed by the determineris described.

The passenger boarding bridgeindicated by solid line inis assumed to be in the state of being docked with the aircraftby a basic docking operation (i.e., basic docked state). In the case of the basic docked state, the passenger boarding bridgeis docked with the aircraftby forward travel of the travel wheels, such that the travel direction of the travel wheels(L,R) is perpendicular to the fuselage guide line AL. Accordingly, an axis WL of the travel wheels(the center line of the axle of the travel wheels) is parallel to the fuselage guide line AL. In, for the sake of convenience, a parallel line Yp parallel to the Y-axis and a parallel line Xp parallel to the X-axis are drawn. It should be noted that the facing direction of the travel wheelsbefore undocking is the same as the facing direction of the travel wheelsat the end of previously performed docking.

As one specific example of the aforementioned undocking determination process, before undocking, the determinerdetermines whether or not the travel direction of the backward travel of the travel deviceis a direction within the smooth undocking range by determining whether or not the angle of the axis WL of the travel wheelsas seen in a plan view (as seen from immediately above) is less than an axle determination angle Wt. The angle of the axis WL is an angle that is formed by a center line Ed of the tunnel unitand the axis WL of the travel wheelsand that is calculated clockwise with respect to the center line Ed of the tunnel unit(hereinafter, the angle of the axis WL is referred to as “axle angle Wr”).

The current axle angle Wr before undocking can be calculated based on an angle currently detected by the travel angle sensor. For example, an angle detected by the travel angle sensorwhen the forward travel direction of the travel wheelsis the extending direction of the tunnel unitis set to 0°; an angle detected by the travel angle sensorwhen the forward travel direction of the travel wheelsis shifted to the left with respect to the extending direction of the tunnel unitis detected as a negative angle value; an angle detected by the travel angle sensorwhen the forward travel direction of the travel wheelsis shifted to the right with respect to the extending direction of the tunnel unitis detected as a positive angle value; and the axle angle Wr is calculated by adding 90 degrees to the angle detected by the travel angle sensor.

The axle determination angle Wt is, when the passenger boarding bridgeis in the basic docked state of being docked with the aircraftby a basic docking operation, calculated clockwise with respect to the center line Ed of the tunnel unitin a plan view. The axle determination angle Wt is an angle obtained by adding 90 degrees to an angle Wx formed by the axis WL of the travel wheels. Specifically, when the passenger boarding bridgeis in the basic docked state, the axis WL of the travel wheelsis parallel to the fuselage guide line AL. Accordingly, in a plan view, the axle determination angle Wt is an angle that is obtained by adding 90 degrees to the angle Wx formed by the fuselage guide line AL, the angle Wx being calculated clockwise with respect to the center line Ed of the tunnel unitbefore undocking the cabfrom the aircraft. The axle determination angle Wt can be calculated by an equation below.90=(90−α+γ)+90=180−α+γ

In the above equation, α is an angle that is formed by the center line Ed of the tunnel unitwith respect to the X-axis and that is determined from a value detected by the rotunda angle sensor. Also, γ is an angle that is formed by the fuselage guide line AL or its extension line with respect to the Y-axis and that is prestored as a predetermined value in the storage unit of the controller. The angle γ illustrated in the drawing is a positive value. However, in a case where the fuselage guide line crosses the Y-axis (or the parallel line Yp parallel to the Y-axis) in a manner reverse to the illustrated fuselage guide line AL, the angle γ is a negative value, and in a case where the fuselage guide line is parallel to the Y-axis, the angle γ is 0.

The determinercalculates the axle determination angle Wt before undocking, and if the current axle angle Wr before undocking is less than the axle determination angle Wt, determines that the travel direction of the backward travel of the travel deviceis a direction within the smooth undocking range, whereas if the current axle angle Wr is greater than or equal to the axle determination angle Wt, determines that the travel direction of the backward travel of the travel deviceis a direction outside the smooth undocking range.

This process is further described with reference to.shows a state that is a result of, in, rotating the X-axis and the Y-axis clockwise by the angle γ, such that the Y-axis is parallel to the fuselage guide line AL. Therefore, the case illustrated incorresponds to a case where, in, γ=0 and α−γ=α1. It should be noted that the determination performed by the determineris only angle determination. For this reason, even when the coordinate axes are rotated as shown infor the sake of convenience, the description can still be given properly. It should be noted thatshows a perpendicular line ALv, which passes through the center point of the pair of travel wheels(L,R) and which is perpendicular to the fuselage guide line AL. In the illustrated travel device, an arrow F indicates a forward travel direction, and an arrow B indicates a backward travel direction.

In, an angle range in which the axle angle Wr is less than the axle determination angle Wt is indicated as a smooth undocking angle range θs, within which smooth undocking can be performed. In a case where the current axle angle Wr is an angle within the smooth undocking angle range θ (e.g., Wr), if the travel wheelsare caused to travel straight backward without changing their facing direction, the travel wheelstravel in a direction within a smooth undocking range θss (e.g., the direction of an arrow As), and the cabmoves away from the aircraft. Thus, the cabcan be smoothly undocked from the aircraftby causing the travel wheelsto travel backward by a predetermined distance (e.g., 0.5 to 1.0 m). It should be noted that, as previously mentioned, the rudder angle of the travel deviceis changeable within the range of −90° to +90° with respect to the extension/retraction direction (the center line Ed) of the tunnel unit. Accordingly, the smooth undocking angle range θs calculated clockwise with respect to the center line Ed of the tunnel unitis a range that is not less than 0° but less than the axle determination angle Wt.